Hybrid
by jCOOLn
Summary: Naruto, the son of the king and a female shade, is a hybrid being. Ever since his mother died he has been angry and when a dragon doesn't choose him to be his rider his father all but disowns him. Well Naruto isn't going to take that lying down and accidentally turns Shruikan back into egg form only to cause him to hatch and make him his rider, now Naruto is on the run.
1. Chapter 1

(Hybrid Chapter 1)

(I don't own Naruto or Inheritance Cycle so don't sue me)

Naruto sat in his father's throne room looking at his father's shade that had been called to the throne room to do Naruto's father's wishes. Naruto usually would have felt bad for anyone who had to stand before his father as things never seemed to end well for them, but Durza was a bastard to say the least and him always calling him an abomination didn't really help his cause.

Naruto was a unique and one of a kind child. He had hair that jutted out in all directions with two bangs that hung down framing his aristocratic looking face. His hair was soft and smooth as silk, but a dark red that looked like fresh blood. His eyes were a smooth deep cherry red color that was full of emotion with a black slit for pupils inside of them. His skin was a flawless alabaster white color that worked well with his red hair and eyes. Naruto was the average height for a sixteen year old boy though his muscles were much more defined than others with a stream line look to them.

Naruto's outfit was custom made just like everything else he owned. His tunic was a deep black color trimmed in gold with the symbol of the empire on it. He wore faded leather riding pants that were made of a tough material that kept them from stretching while he rode horses. He had a platinum ring with the his father's personal crest in the center cut from pure jet and a silver necklace that hung loosely around his with an elongated emerald at the bottom of it. All in all Naruto was a very handsome young man and had been told so many times by the ladies of the castle.

"My lord you called for me" asked Durza in his grave and evil voice. He was a creature of evil that wasn't up for debate and it almost made Naruto cringe to think about him that way since Naruto's mother had been a shade, which made Naruto a hybrid.

"Yes we have received information regarding the object that was taken from my personal vaults. I want you to track down these elves, teach them a lesson, and bring me back my egg" spoke the king in a smooth and silky voice that he was known for but at the end his voice turned cruel and dangerous revealing just how angry he was that the egg had been taken.

It was a bad day to be alive when Naruto's father found out one of his precious dragon eggs had been stolen. Many people lost their lives, typically the guards who were supposed to be guarding the eggs but there were a few pore bastards who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and got in the kings way and lost their lives.

"Yes my lord" spoke Durza as he stood up and swept he cloak in a dramatic way before strutting out of the king's grand hall to do as he master had instructed. Naruto knew as did many others that Durza hated the king but the king held absolute power over him so there wasn't much he could do about it.

"Naruto" called out the king shocking Naruto greatly. His father wasn't very loving towards him and he almost never acknowledged his existence after he found out none of the eggs had hatched for him. When Naruto was younger he had held out the hope that if the other egg was found and recovered he would be able to hold it and it would hatch for him and that his father would love him like other kids parents did. After years he had learned that it was a fools dream and had given up on it.

"Yes father" asked Naruto as he stepped out from behind a pillar that he had been watching the king from just like he had been told. He was standing before his father and his mountain of a dragon Shruikan.

Shruikan looked at him with nothing but hatred in his eyes just like he had always done, but just for a second Naruto saw something he hadn't ever seen before. For the briefest of seconds Naruto saw pain, anguish, and if he was not mistaken longing. Naruto was almost positive he saw it but it was hard to believe since all he had ever felt from Shruikan was madness and hatred. Maybe there was more to Shruikan than he had thought. He was obviously much smarter than Morzan's dragon.

"How has your training been coming along" asked the king in a silky voice. Naruto was instantly on guard. The king didn't care about him, at least as a son, so why was he being so nice, and invasive.

"They are going well father. Murtagh and I have been training day and night to hone our skills. I have also been studying magic just as you instructed me" spoke Naruto as he stood in front of his father and stood as straight as possible so his father wouldn't become angry for slouching like he had seen him do countless times in the past.

"Good. Soon you will be strong enough to lead my armies into battle. When you are ready you will be able to march my armies into Surda to crush any and all of the rebellion" spoke the king with glee in his voice. Naruto could already see why his father had called him today. He was to become his father's soldier and he didn't have a choice.

"It is an honor father. I await the day I may serve you in any way possible. Will Murtagh be allowed to become my second in command, or will you choose him for me" asked Naruto as he looked up at his father. Those black eyes were something to fear and inside of them was nothing short of pure darkness.

"If you wish Murtagh to be your second in command I see no reason for him not to be other than he cannot use magic, though he does have a powerful mind so it should be fine, now leave me. I have business to take care of and you cannot be here when it happens" spoke the king as he waved his hand in a shooing manner. Naruto bowed his head and left the throne room right as three people walked in with cloaks covering their bodies entered the room. Naruto could smell the scent of rotting humans on them and wrinkled his nose. He had smelt these people before, though he had never really seen them. His father had kept him away from them as much as possible though for what reason he didn't know.

**XXX**

As Naruto was walking down the hallway he saw a familiar mop of black hair that he knew to belong to his best friend. Naruto slowed down his pace and crept quietly behind Murtagh. He was thankful for many reasons for being half shade; one was being able to move without making a sound. Shades were creatures of death and destruction as well as the night so moving silently was a given.

"Boo" shouted Naruto causing Murtagh to jump into the air and clutch his heart. Naruto started to laugh though it came out a little creepy. There were ups and downs to having a shade for a mother and one of the down sides was he sometimes creeped people out.

"Damn it Naruto you nearly gave me a heart attack" shouted Murtagh as he followed Naruto outside. His face was read with either anger of embarrassment though judging by their friendship Naruto knew Murtagh wouldn't be that mad with him unless he really did something bad so it must have been embarrassment.

"I never would have thought the great Murtagh would scream like a little girl" laughed Naruto as he walked out to the armory at the side of the castle. He wanted to start his training as soon as possible to attempt to survive whatever he father had planned for him.

"Fuck you, you bastard" shouted Murtagh as his face got redder than Naruto's hair. Naruto smirked but his smirk revealed an elongated fang that made his face look dark and scary though Murtagh was used to it so it didn't really affect him.

"No thanks I am interested in women but hey it's whatever you're into" spoke Naruto with a shrug of his shoulders as he continued to walk away. When he looked back he saw that Murtagh's face got even redder, turning a purple color which made Naruto laugh.

"You bastard I'm not gay" shouted Murtagh as he shot Naruto a glare that could kill if looks could kill.

"Hey there is not anything wrong with being gay, and you know I won't judge you, so you can finally come out of the closet without feeling self-conscience" spoke Naruto as he continued to walk. He was having a hard time standing as his insides were all twisted up from trying not to laugh at his best friend's bewildered face.

"I hate you" was all Murtagh could say. He knew that no matter what he said Naruto would find some way to turn his words back around on him and make his position worse than it had previously been. It was something that he had been taught since he was a young boy by politicians and scholars his father had hired to teach him.

"So I have been told on numerous occasions before, but besides that do you want to practice archery with me today" asked Naruto as he grabbed a yew bow from the armory and a quiver full of arrows. He slung them on his back and began walking towards the archery range.

"Sure but I can't stay for long. I need to talk to Tornac later today about some things. By the way what did the king want with you today? I heard he called you in to the throne room and that you were in there for hours" spoke Murtagh though when he saw the way Naruto deflated he couldn't help but feel bad for him. He knew unlike other people that being the son of the king was far from the glamorous life that others envisioned.

"He dragged me into that boring ass throne room for six hours making me watch as he lorded his power over others from the shadows like I was some kind of thief in hiding and only addressed me after he no longer could feel smug about making me wait he called me out and told me that he would be making me the leading general of his army not so long into the future and said that I could make you my number two though I'm sure you're not interested" spoke Naruto as he pulled back on the bow and aimed the arrow down the sights. He unleashed it with a lough **Twang** sound and watched as he got a bull's eye on the target.

"Nice shot" spoke Murtagh as he watched Naruto pull back another arrow and unleash it. This time it hit dead center in the head of the target. Naruto was a pro archer and with his shade blood it was almost too easy for him. "But you are right I don't want anything to do with the king's army. My father may have willingly fought for him but that doesn't mean I will."

"You know you won't be able to stay here if you don't become a soldier. You refuse to take up your father's wealth and titles so you have either the money, political power, or the rank to stay here" spoke Naruto as he looked over at Murtagh and saw a strange look in his eyes like he was caught in the act of something that honestly Naruto knew nothing about.

"I will think of something" said Murtagh as he walked away to go see Tornac, probably for swordsman training. Naruto watched him walk away with squinted eyes. He could feel something was going on with his friend but what it was he couldn't be sure. There was just something in the back of his mind telling him that he should watch him from here on out.

**XXX**

Naruto was walking around during the night with nothing to do. He had inherited his mother's ability to not sleep if he didn't want to. It wouldn't negatively affect him like it would a human but he did always feel better after a good night's rest.

As he was walking through the hallways he could hear heavy breathing coming from his father's throne room. He decided to enter the throne room since his father was probably off with a group of his concubines doing god knows what and wouldn't pay no mind to him looking at his monstrous dragon.

When Naruto opened the door he looked into the dark room with no problems. Like all shades the darkness didn't bother him and he could see as clearly in the dark as he could in the day but even with his eye sight the sight of the giant light blue almost grey eye the just opened up out of nowhere with a dark slit down the center looking down on him was shocking.

Now that Naruto actually looked Shruikan over he was truly impressed by what he saw. Normally he was too occupied by what his father wanted or was trying to avoid offending Shruikan who always kept his eyes on Naruto for some reason to truly marvel at the magnificence of Shruikan.

The smallest scale on his body had to be the size of a Kull sized shield. His back spikes were thicker than most trees Naruto had ever seen. The size of Shruikan was just unimaginable and Naruto wondered just how far back the room went to encompass something the size of this dragon. His scales were a beautiful black color, the same color as the jet in his ring; the only gift Naruto's father had ever given him. It really reflected the torch lights wonderfully. The last thing Naruto wondered was just how his father kept something on this size fed. He must have eaten tons of food in one sitting which was mind boggling to Naruto.

When Naruto walked up to the giant dragon it began to growl at him. Naruto stopped instantly and looked up at the dragon. Its eyes held so much hatred yet Naruto could see the pain and loneliness that he had seen earlier in his eyes as well. Naruto wanted to help him for some reason. Growing up as the son of the king in a hostile world such as this was far from easy and Naruto had to learn to defend himself with both words and weapons.

"I don't know if you can understand me, but I mean you no harm. I was just walking through the castle when I heard you" spoke Naruto as he looked up at the giant of a dragon hoping it wouldn't eat him.

The dragon looked down on Naruto; its eye was much larger than Naruto was tall, with an intense glare. It was like the dragon didn't trust Naruto to keep his word about not hurting him which caused Naruto to truly feel bad for him. He had been forced to live with his dad for sixteen years while this dragon had been forced to lie for hundreds of years.

"I know how you feel, I hate him to" spoke Naruto. This caused the dragon to whirl around on him and get within an inch of him with its massive jaws. Naruto took a step back in fear but kept his cool for the most part.

Naruto felt something slam into his mind and he instantly put up his mental shields. He was very good at this having both a natural ability at it and being trained to use it from a very young age had insured Naruto was a master of the mind arts but not even these things would keep the ancient mind of the dragon out of his head.

The dragon broke through Naruto's mental shields but instead of looking around his mind it started showing Naruto flashes of his own past. Naruto could see the cruel thins Galbatorix had forced him to do and the cruel things that Galbatorix had done to him. The countless years of enslavement to the mad man as well as always being forced to stay in this room away from the freedom of the sky that all dragons loved unless the king needed a means of transportation.

Tears rushed out of Naruto's eyes as he fell to the ground and gripped the stone floors. He realized now just how wrong he was. He had no idea how bad things had been for Shruikan nor did he know how Shruikan felt, but there was one thing that they both could agree on. They both hated Galbatorix with a burning passion.

"I promise you I will free you someday" spoke Naruto as he stood up and walked out of the room. He didn't see the hopeful look that was inside of Shruikan's eyes that disappeared almost as fast as it appeared.

**XXX**

The next day Naruto got out of bed and almost ran to the library. He had been focused solely on what had happened last night and what he had promised Shruikan. He realized that developing a spell of incantation to release Shruikan from his father's grasp would be very difficult if he didn't know what spells were used to bind him.

Naruto damn near beat his head against the wall when he realized he couldn't ask his father something like that or he would get suspicious. He would have to search through books and hope to come across something that would be able to help him.

'Well looks like I will be spending lots of time in the library' thought Naruto as he got out of bed and walked down to the giant library inside of the castle that was reserved only for the highest ranking officials.

**XXX**

For three months Naruto power read as much as he could find inside of the library. He found nothing that was relevant to what he was looking for and his father had been looking at him funny ever since that night like he suspected something but wasn't really worried about it.

"Damn it what can it be" shouted Naruto into the library. There was almost never anyone inside of the library so he wasn't worried about disturbing anyone and unless his father walked in or the undead Morzan he knew he would be able to hold his own against them.

"You should be a bit quitter you little abomination or you might lose the ability to speak at all" came an eerie voice from behind Naruto. When Naruto turned around he saw the monstrous face of Durza as he looked down on him with dark eyes full of hatred.

"What are you doing here Durza" asked Naruto as he stood up to look Durza in the eyes. He wasn't as tall as Durza yet but he wasn't about to back down to the shade either. He may be a hybrid but in his opinion that was better than being a pure blooded human or shade.

"I can read boy" spoke Durza with a hiss to his voice. Naruto just squinted his eyes knowing that there was more of a reason than that. "I was also sent here by your father to collect you. It seems he wishes for you to view the proceeding of his rule today" spoke Durza as he began to walk away. As he was walking away Naruto had a brilliant idea.

"Hey Durza just how long have you and my father known each other" asked Naruto as he followed Durza to the throne room.

"Far too long" spoke Durza with hatred in his voice.

"Did you know him before he did whatever it is he did to make Shruikan his dragon" asked Naruto though he thought he might have spoken too much when Durza stopped and looked at him with a calculating stare. After a few minutes Durza began to speak in a slow yet inquisitive tone.

"Yes I knew him before he enslaved Shruikan. Back when he was a young rider his first dragon was killed by Urgals because he was being foolish. When the council refused to give him another dragon he stole an egg but needed a bit more power and more insight to the dark arts so he found me out in the Hadarac Desert and asked me to help him create an artificial bond with a dragon. It interested me so I helped him though nearly at the cost of the dragon's sanity" spoke Durza as he looked down at Naruto. A creepy smile started to form on his face as the gears began to turn in his mind.

"Could you tell me specifically how this ritual to create this bond works? I have been curious about it for some time and haven't been able to sate my curiosity" spoke Naruto as he examined the ring on his hand acting like he was only half interested in their conversation.

"I can do better than that" spoke Durza as he disappeared and then reappeared a few moments later with a tan book in his hands. When he handed it to Naruto, Naruto grimaced. The cover of the book was obviously made of human skin as the freckles were a dead giveaway. Other than that and the cold aura around the book it was pretty normal.

"That is a book on some of the blackest magic in the world. You will find everything you are looking for in there" spoke Durza as he disappeared, though that crazy smile on his face didn't disappear.

"I really hope he doesn't tell my dad" spoke Naruto as he ran and put the book in his room before running off to his father's throne room. He crept inside of the throne room hoping to not be noticed but it seemed his father had other plans.

"It took you quite a while to get here son" spoke Galbatorix with mirth in his voice. His eyes were curious like he had finally found something that interested him but wanted to watch and see how it played out.

"Yea I was so focused on a book I had just read that I walked down the wrong hallway which caused me to be a bit late" spoke Naruto with a small smile on his face as he scratched the back of his head. His father was smiling as well but there was darkness in that smile.

"Just don't let it happen again" spoke Galbatorix as he looked back at the other nobles in the room. To anyone else that was a father covering up for his son, but Naruto knew better. That was a threat if he had ever heard one.

"Yes father" spoke Naruto as he stood off to the side of his father and watched on with a bored look on his face. He didn't care too much for politics like most of these greedy bastards or torture like some of the other more sadistic members of the nobility.

He could hear the steady breathing from behind him and couldn't wait to get ahold of that book. It was the only thing on his mind as he watched the nobles bicker back and forth. He could only imagine how mad his father would be when Shruikan went wild and hopefully killed him.

"Well that wraps up another day" spoke one of the nobles as he walked off followed by a crowed of other nobles. Some of the nobles were smiling knowing that they got some kind of great deal while others were scowling knowing that they had been screwed.

"Durza did you get me my egg" asked the king as he looked to his left where Durza was standing. Durza lost that evil look and took on a much more stressed out look that Naruto hadn't ever seen him with before.

"My apologies my king, I was able to kill the elven guards and was about to ascertain the egg when the last of the elves used a teleportation spell and sent it away thus out of my grasp" spoke Durza but then he started to shake and wither in pain. This lasted for a while until Galbatorix released whatever magic he had over Durza allowing Durza to pant and breathe a bit.

"Find me that egg or I will find me a new shade" spoke the king as he released Durza. Durza quickly got up and left the room as fast as he could looking a crazy man to regular humans.

"Now Naruto why don't you tell me about this book you have been reading? It must have been very interesting if it caused you to be late to one of my meeting" spoke Galbatorix as he looked at Naruto. Naruto gulped knowing he was in the king's spotlight, not somewhere you wanted to be, and had to think quickly.

"Yes father I have been studying the bond between rider and dragon hoping to find some way to convince a dragon to bond with me. The book I had been reading was about familiars and sorcerers and I thought that I might be able to apply it to one of the eggs though it is still just a thought" spoke Naruto mentally praising himself for coming up with such a great lie right on the spot.

"Hmmm that is very interesting. If you can figure out how to do it I will let you have your own dragon egg do use this spell on, but until then I suggest you pay more attentions to your surroundings" spoke Galbatorix as he got up and left the throne room. When he was gone Naruto looked over at Shruikan and began to talk.

"Tonight I will free you I am sure of it" spoke Naruto as he to left the room with great haste. He couldn't afford to mess around the king was onto him and he was only a matter of time before he figured out what he was trying to do either by accident or by breaking into Durza's head.

When Naruto got to his room he quickly grabbed the book and opened it up. Inside were gruesome arcane rituals that Naruto wasn't even sure their purpose besides horribly disfiguring oneself of another, but eventually he got to the section that described binding and torture rituals. He found out that his father had used this black magic to bind Shruikan to his him via his gedwëy ignasia that he had gotten from his first dragon. This link was established using dark magic and through breaking a dragon's mind to suit one's needs.

As Naruto was reading through the book and making notes on a piece of paper to create a reversal spell to fix the damage his father had created Murtagh entered the room looking really paranoid. Naruto looked at him for a second trying to figure out what was going on since Murtagh never came this deep into the castle.

"Can we talk" asked Murtagh as he stood in front of Naruto. Now that Naruto looked at him closely he saw that he wasn't wearing his noble clothing. He was dressed more as a hoarse rider or something else like that.

"Yea, are you going somewhere" asked Naruto trying to wrap his head around what was going on. His friend had been antsy a lot these last three months and he knew something was up but he hadn't been able to get Murtagh to tell him.

"I am leaving" was the only thing Murtagh said as he looked down on his friend. He didn't want to leave his only friend here all by himself so he had come to invite him along but he knew things wouldn't be easy for them.

"Were to" asked Naruto like it was a casual conversation as he continued to make notes.

"I don't know, but anywhere is better than here" spoke Murtagh as he looked at Naruto wondering what he was doing. He knew Naruto was a natural when it came to magic but even without reading what that book held he could feel the darkness in it.

"So you just came to tell me goodbye or what" asked Naruto with a smile. The counter spell was much easier than he thought it would be and releasing Shruikan tonight would very well be possible.

"No I came to offer you a place alongside me. We could do anything we wanted, we could finally be free, but our only chance is tonight. I bribed off the guards and me and Tornac are going to make a break for it" spoke Murtagh as he watched Naruto close his book and roll up a piece of parchment.

"It sounds like a dream Murtagh but there is something I have to do tonight so I can't come with you but I will try to catch up if I can" spoke Naruto as he left the room. Murtagh was left standing there with confusion written all over his face but he quickly broke out of his shock and ran towards where his horse and master were.

**XXX**

As Naruto snuck into the throne room he saw Shruikan's eye open up and look at him. He felt so small and insignificant under that gaze but he swallowed his fear and pulled out a large hoarse leg that he had taken off of a hoarse that he had slain a few moments ago and began drawing runes and symbols on the ground all the while chanting in the ancient language. When he was done he tossed the hoarse leg out of the room and looked over at Shruikan.

"I promise you I won't hurt you. If you step into the circle I can free you from my father" spoke Naruto. He heard Shruikan growl lowly but there was that glimmer of hope in his eyes again. It seemed that even after all these years he hadn't given up hope and slowly and quickly he moved until his head was lying on the center of the transmutation circle.

Naruto started to speak a few words in the ancient language and then slammed his hands on the runes. He watched in amazement as Shruikan started to glow in a dark light. Naruto thought he had done it but then Shruikan started to thrash around destroying everything around him and then he started to shrink. Naruto watched as Shruikan started to shrink more and more and more until he was the size or Naruto's hand, then a blinding white light over took him causing him to shield his eyes. When he opened them again there was a giant black dragon egg in his arms.

"Oh crap" was all Naruto could say. When he heard the guards coming he grabbed the egg and hauled ass out of the castle.


	2. Chapter 2

(Hybrid Chapter 2)

Fear is something that every living person will feel in their life time, and Naruto was sure that right now he was getting at least the next fifty years' worth of fear out of his system as he ran at unseen speeds through his father's castle with a black dragon egg in his hand.

The fear was creeping through his veins like ice water. The thought of being caught by his father was so daunting and horrifying that his imagination was starting to play tricks on him. At every turn he made he pictured his father standing there with that eerie smirk on his face that spoke of the untold horror he would rain down upon him for taking Shruikan from him.

His father could probably take the egg and do the same thing he did to it in the first place but even if that were to happen Shruikan would still have to grow up to get back to the mountainous size he had been. His father's enemies would surely take advantage of his 'weakness' and strike, though how successful they would be was unknown to him, though if experience was anything to go by the rebels' would be screwed.

Naruto also thought about how not having Shruikan around would weaken him and how without his dragon he would no longer be able to live forever. Naruto assumed that his father would try and get Shruikan back since he already had some type of connection with him but if a year or two went by he may set his sights on one of the other three eggs.

Naruto couldn't live with himself if he knew that he rescued one dragon only to possibly damn one of three others so he took a quick left turn and started running through the dungeons. Right now Naruto could only think about how happy he was that his father had left for Dras Leona last night. He hadn't taken Shruikan because he didn't want anyone knowing he was leaving because if they did then they might have tried to steal another of his eggs. Oddly enough it would happen regardless.

"Halt where are you going" shouted a guard as he raised a spear and pointed it at Naruto. Naruto had neither the time nor the patience to deal with this pesky human so using his great strength and speed he ducked under the spear and delivered a powerful right strait directly at the man's plated chest. The man didn't stand a chance against Naruto's super strength and speed. His plated chest caved in instantly and Naruto's fist completely destroyed his chest and crushed his heart. Naruto quickly grabbed the dead man's spear and hauled ass towards the basement of the cathedral.

As a child Naruto had played or hid inside of the cathedral and therefor knew of most of the traps from subtly things his father would say during his meeting with the shade Durza, so he was able to deduce where the dragon eggs were hidden. It would take extra time out of his desperate escape but he would have to try.

As Naruto ran through the castle he noticed that there weren't nearly as many guards around as there usually were. He got worried but persevered in an attempt to get to the dragon eggs. He knew of three dragon eggs that were inside of Urû'baen, well four if you counted Shruikan's egg that was now in his hand.

"Lord Naruto where are you" but that was as far as another one of Naruto's father's guards got as he tried to stop Naruto, right before a spear was lodged into his chest from the other side of the room.

Naruto didn't even slowdown from his crazy fast speed as he continued running down deeper into the city. The walls were dark and made of black stone which gave this place such a creepy vibe. There were hundreds of rooms filled with either treasure his father had taken over his long years as king or were empty with only cobwebs and dust to fill them.

Naruto didn't care about any of that at the moment and kept on running until he came to the last room at the end of the hallway. He opened the door and looked inside. There was some treasure and a few other things on the ground but in the wall was a mural with three large jewel like things imbedded in the wall. The first wasn't very interesting, just a light brown color with white veins running through it. The second one was far more beautiful, a ruby red color with the white veins though its resemblance to his eyes was uncanny. The last was a forest green color that looked like a giant round emerald.

'Great I found them and I am not dead you, good. now all I have to do is grab them, which will obviously alert my father and probably all of the city, carry them and escape this place, and then I am lost' thought Naruto as fake tears ran down his face. He cursed himself for not planning things ahead sooner when he looked down and saw a large bag full of gold. Naruto smiled thinking things were finally going his way.

Naruto reached down and emptied the sack of gold, though he did slip some gold into his pockets in case he needed it and grabbed a few other expensive objects before looking up at the eggs and opened the bag.

"Ok this is it. As soon as I pull them out of the wall my dad will know and I will be basically fucked" spoke Naruto to himself getting ready to pull them out as quickly as he could. He grabbed the brown one first and quickly pulled it out.

That was when his blood went cold. When he pulled the brown egg out he could feel a pulse go out, and he knew instantly that his father was aware his eggs were being stolen. Knowing that his father would assuredly be on his way Naruto quickly grabbed the other two eggs and put them in the sack along with Shruikan's egg as well.

"Ok now I think it is time to go" spoke Naruto to no one unparticular as he slung the sack of dragon eggs onto his back and started to hall ass down the hallways making sure to avoid any guard that he came across as much as possible.

When Naruto ran out into the courtyard he had to stop. Surrounding him had to be at least fifty armed guards decked out in plate armor, long spears, thick metal shields, with the symbol of his father's personal guard on their armor. On top of the buildings were about fifty archers aiming their bows and arrows at him ready to kill him.

"Lord Naruto what do you think you are doing" asked a rather fat man as he stepped out from behind the line of pike men. He had that stupid come over hair style along with a crappy long and pointed mustache, but worst of all was that over confidant smile that made Naruto just want to slap it off of him.

"I was going for an evening stroll when I was surrounded by my father's personal guard. Any particular reason you have your weapon's pointed at the royal prince" asked Naruto hoping that they had no idea what he had or had done.

The man gave that same smirk and Naruto promised himself he would kill him before he made his escape. "Well according to the message I received from your father someone was inside of his royal treasury and took something that they shouldn't have. You wouldn't happen to know anything about this would you, _your majesty_" asked the man in a smug voice as he emphasized the worlds Your Majesty.

"Hmmm, no I wouldn't actually. I just felt like going out for some night air when I noticed that the guards weren't stationed where they normally were so I went looking around" spoke Naruto with a 'I don't care' voice as he shrugged his shoulders.

This only seemed to make the fat man even less happy. The fat man puffed up his fat breasts and said "Well we were informed that a certain rat would make a daring escape tonight so we put extra guards at the entrance tonight. Sadly the rat got away, but his master wasn't so lucky" laughed the man with a disgusting laugh. Naruto was sickened as he watched spit and drool run down from his mouth "But luckily we were able to catch you so now the king will not punish us."

Naruto smirked a condescending smirk which angered the count as he said "You mean so he won't punish you tubby? Using Shruikan to roast you like pig would be interesting to watch though I bet the smell would be rather unpleasant, I mean look at you." Naruto couldn't help but mess with the bastard. It was people like him who made his life so hard growing up. He was stronger and faster than any human even as a child, but they were always numerous and were also politically connected.

"I am going to make sure your torture is long and painful beyond imagination. By the time I am done with you, you will be begging me for death, and as the noble lord that I am I will give it to you" spoke the man with evil in his eyes. His anger wasn't dissipated by the smirk that was still on Naruto's face.

Naruto looked back at the palace before looking at the stupid noble with a look that said 'I know something that you don't' which caused the noble to loo weary. "I doubt you escape punishment, I mean I did kill Shruikan and disintegrated his body into nothing after all. I doubt my father lets anyone live in the castle after that" spoke Naruto with glee in his voice. He was happy he hid the egg and hoped that his father wouldn't see through the ruse.

The noble fell to his knees with a look of pure fear and shock on his face. He started to stutter with that horrified look in his eyes. "You killed Shruikan? Do you know what you have done? The king will go on a killing spree the moment he finds out and nobody will be able to survive his wrath" shouted the man as he began to pull on his hair, causing what little he had to be pulled out.

"Well your screwed now aren't you" spoke Naruto as he turned around and made a run for it. He heard fifty **twang** sounds going off almost instantaneously which caused Naruto to smirk.

Naruto quickly turned around and used the ancient language to stop the arrows in their tracks. He barely felt the drain on his reserves and thanked his mother profusely for his Shade blood. Using the ancient language he turned the arrows around and shot them back at the archers hitting some while others were able to dodge.

Naruto didn't forget his promise and looked over at the fat man who was trying to run back behind the wall of pike men and pointed his finger at the man's back right before he said **kveykva **which caused a long bolt of black lightning to shoot from his finger and blast the fat man's back to pieces. Naruto didn't want to kill the man; oh no he wanted him to suffer his father's wrath far more. That would be a fait far worse than death.

"Get him" shouted one of the pike men as they charged Naruto.

Being unarmed and wanting to conserve his magic Naruto decided the best option was to flee, so that is what he did. Naruto quickly turned around and hauled ass back into the cathedral and ran through the building hoping to find and exit.

He could hear the sound of the soldier's metal boots hitting the tiled floor as they chased after him. Naruto continued to think. He had no idea where he was going, he had no long term plans, hell all he knew was that he want to get him and the dragon eggs as far away from this place and his father.

'Wait a second. That fast bastard said something about a rat trying to escape and his master dying. Murtagh said he was going to leave and his master would obviously go with him. Does that mean that Murtagh is on the run as well' wondered Naruto as he ran up a flight of stairs.

As Naruto thought about it the more it seemed to make sense. He remembered all of the time he spent with his master and how Murtagh hated Naruto's father as well as his own father for that matter. Naruto smiled. Maybe he wouldn't be as alone as he thought he was going to be.

"I see him" came a voice from behind Naruto ripping him from his thought.

When Naruto turned around only his battle hardened reflexes were enough to catch the spear that had been thrown at him from mid-air after it had already gotten so close. Naruto looked down the stair well and saw hoards of empire troops coming up.

"Damn it I am so screwed" shouted Naruto as he looked out one of the giant windows that over looked the city. That was when he noticed a building somewhat close by with a flat roof.

Naruto guestimated the distance and shrugged his shoulders in defeat. 'What's life without a little risk' he thought sarcastically as he backed up and got into a running stance. When he got comfortable with the weird drag the bag of eggs was causing him he burst off at full speed, spear in one hand, and a bag full of dragon eggs in the other, right before he jumped through a giant glass window and started to fall at an angle.

"Shit maybe this wasn't the best idea" shouted Naruto as he fell fast and hard. If he were human he would have already said his prayers because this fall would have turned muscle to liquids and bones to dust, but one again Naruto was thanking his mother's shade blood that ran through him as he landed heavily on top of the room without any injuries.

"Wow so lucky" spoke Naruto as he was about to do a little victory jig but then he heard multiple **twang **sounds coming from behind him. He initiated an emergency role to get out of the way of whatever was coming his way. When he got done he saw arrows and spears where he was standing a moment ago and looked up only to see archers and other soldiers lined up looking at him from where he broke through the window.

"You missed" shouted Naruto, but then he took off trying to dodge the next wave of arrows that were sent his way. He used the tops of people's houses as to avoid the streets which were tingling with soldiers trying to capture him.

When he finally got to an outer wall he had to tuck and role to avoid a large spear that was shot out of some kind of metal contraption on the wall. Naruto was getting tire of people trying to pierce him and saw the man manning the spear shoot and threw his own spear at the man. Naruto smiled when he saw that he had skewered the skewer.

Naruto walked to the end of the last house only to see that the distance from it to the wall was further than he could jump carrying said luggage. He was starting to panic because the soldiers were starting to get organized and it was only a matter of time before the magicians started showing up and he wasn't ready for all-out war.

"There has to be some way to get from here to over there" spoke Naruto as he started to look around. When he saw a basket of laundry hanging out of some rich nobleman's house he smiled. Using the ancient language to call the laundry to him he started to make a make shift rope.

When he was done he reasoned he had plenty of 'rope' now but all he needed was something that would stick into the wall so that he wouldn't fall. Naruto grinned evilly as he saw the giant spear that had almost killed him.

"That will do" spoke Naruto as he started to tie the laundry rope to the spear.

As Naruto went to pick the spear up something smashed into his mental shield. Naruto looked all around him and didn't see anything, but using his shade vision which made seeing in the dark as easy as the day he saw a man robed in all black staring at him.

"You think your something" asked Naruto as he pulled out a dagger and threw it at the man. "**Kveykva**" shouted Naruto. It was beautiful really. The knife which had been traveling towards the man's head lit up incased in black lighting which caused it to move even faster.

The man's mental probe was still attacking Naruto when Naruto attacked him. He must of figured he would be able a challenge and would therefore be able to stop Naruto from using magic. That was his biggest and last mistake.

The lighting powered knife pierced right through the man's head and kept on going like it never ran into any kind of barrier. Naruto didn't watch as it kept on going through house after house. Naruto grabbed hold of the large spear and threw it at the wall on the other side. Knowing how powerful the defenses of the city had Naruto used the **Kveykva** spell again to make the spear strong enough to pierce the wall even if only slightly.

"Yes" shouted Naruto with joy, but all that did was brought him a hail of arrows which he had to dodge along with making sure the dragon eggs were safe. Naruto looked over the edge of the house and shouted "PRICKS" which only seemed to anger them more.

'Ok all I have to do is run across this make shift rope made from fancy smancy noblemen's clothing while carrying dragon eggs on my back while dodging both arrows and spears and praying that there are no mages down there with any brains….. easy enough' thought Naruto as he ran to the other side of the house and began running as fast as he could towards the rope.

It was both exhilarating and terrifying to run across that crappy one rope bridge to freedom. Even though Naruto wanted to run as fast as he could across the rope he knew that would only lead to his down fall so he slowed down. This though made it possible for the archers to see him and unload their arrows at him. The pike men were not idle either, as they got closer to him and started to throw their spears at him.

Naruto used both magic and skill to dodge the arrows. He could see the dark forest at the edge of the valley around the city and knew that if he could make it there he could escape, but this city wasn't making things easy.

Even though he wanted to conserve energy he knew it would be nearly impossible. His hopes that there would be no competent magicians down there had been denied so he had to use his magic to keep the mages, archers, and spear throwers from killing him at all times which was draining his reserves.

When Naruto was about halfway across the rag tag rope he heard "Aim for the ropes, use fire" from below. The blood in his veins went ice cold and he knew he was in a bad place. He quickly picked up his pace but even as he was doing this mages all started lighting up the archer's arrows who started launching them at the rope.

There was one thing going for Naruto if nothing else. The rope was made out of noblemen's clothing that had been crudely tied together so it was incredibly small making it difficult to hit. Their problem was there were several things working against him. The cloth was thin yes, but if hit only once it would cut taking Naruto down with it or it could easily catch fire which would cause the same effect as the first. Then you had to think of the dozens of archers and mages who were aiming for it and then you could see just how screwed Naruto was.

"I got it" shouted someone from below.

Naruto didn't stop running but he did glance back very quickly. It was as the man had said and now the rope was burning. Naruto cursed as he didn't have the time to put it out and picked up the speed.

"Come on boys aim for the thief, the rope will fall soon anyways" shouted the captain as he and his men took aim and started shooting arrows at Naruto once again.

Naruto could feel it like a monster chasing him in a dream. It was almost there, it almost had him, there was only one way he would make it, and damn it he was going to take it. Naruto quickly jumped off of the rope into the air and extended one hand out praying that he made it.

Everything was in slow motion to Naruto. The arrows shouting past him with fire covering their tips, the spears that were bouncing off of his magic shields, and most of all time. Naruto extended his hand as far as it would go, and was pretty sure he dislocated it stretching it that far, but to his relief he made it. He was latched onto the side of the wall held up only by his index, middle, and ring finger on his left hand but damn it he made it.

Naruto quickly pulled himself up onto the wall and then jumped off the other side. For the first time in his life he was outside of the wall of Urû'baen. For some reason he felt a great weight lift from his shoulders as he examined the surrounding clearing. He felt at peace, until someone shouted "I see him, he is over here" which caused Naruto to stand back up and run as fast as he could towards the tree line.

Unfortunately for Naruto he wasn't yet out of the clearing as the giant gates of Urû'baen opened up only to reveal a large group of men on battle chargers. Naruto swore in his head knowing how famous the horsemen of Urû'baen were.

"Get him" shouted the captain and instantly there was a stampede of stomping hooves that were rushing off towards him.

Naruto looked back and shouted "**Kveykva**" while extending all five of the fingers in his left hand. Five bolts of black lighting shout out at the horsemen and killed a few of them but they were not deterred and continued chasing Naruto.

Naruto knew he was in deep trouble as the horsemen chased him. He was faster than them yes, but they knew the terrain way better than he did and were battle hardened warriors. Then there was the enormous drain of energy that he had suffered actually escaping Urû'baen in the first place.

"You won't get away! Nobody steals from the king and lives" shouted the captain from atop his black charger. Naruto, even in this dark time for him, couldn't help but be a smart ass.

"The guy who stole the blue dragon egg got away, what makes you think you and your little pony brigade will be able to stop me" shouted Naruto at the top of his lungs as he ran from them. He smirked triumphantly when no reply came but angry grunting.

Naruto kept running keeping the tree line in sight hoping and praying he made it. He had to keep zig zagging as a few of the horsemen had bow and arrows and they were not against using them. This had another adverse effect of slowing Naruto down causing the horsemen with the spears to keep catching up.

"We will get you, and when we do we will kill you" shouted the captain as he kept getting closer and closer to Naruto. Naruto could see the glee in his eyes as Naruto got closer and closer to his spear's kill range.

"Fuck you old man" shouted Naruto as a smirk formed on his face. A glint in his eye would have told anyone who had seen it he was up to something.

"Die" shouted the captain, but right as he went to skewer Naruto through the back Naruto put the brakes on causing the spear to go over his head. When he looked back he saw Naruto running alongside him with a dark look in his eyes.

"Mind if I join you" asked Naruto as he jumped up on the horse so he was sitting behind the captain. The captain tried to move to attack Naruto but Naruto grabbed him by the head and snapped it like a twig with minimal difficulty.

"I guess not" joked Naruto as he saw the loose head of the captain bobbling up and down. Naruto was about to push him off before he saw an intricate ring on one of his hands that he took, the leather rider's shirt he had on, and the intricate spear he had that he also took. After he took everything he wanted off of the man he put him behind him so that his body could shield him from arrows.

Naruto used his mind to force the horse to run faster away from Urû'baen and the other horsemen that were chasing him. The horse was strong so Naruto was confident it could survive the hard run he was putting it through.

"CAPTAIN" shouted the other men as they redoubled their efforts to kill Naruto. Now that Naruto didn't have to focus on running or dodging thanks to the horse and the captain's body he was able to fight back.

When one of the horsemen would get to close Naruto would use the spear to quickly kill either the rider of the horse. For the others that were hanging back he would use the "**Kveykva**" spell to quickly kill them with a bolt of electricity.

This process worked miracles as his pursuers were quickly dwindling but so was his stamina. He may have been strong, but he wasn't invincible. His father had shown him that many of times and with all the magic he had already used he was running on E.

Eventually there was only three pursuers but by then Naruto was about to pass out from using so much magic. His body was tired and his eyes kept trying to close. He figured the horse would be able to lead him to safety, but it seemed one of the horsemen could use the mind arts and forced the horse to halt which inadvertently caused Naruto to go flying.

Naruto landed on the hard ground with a loud thud, but even then he made sure the eggs were alright. They were the future of their race and would undoubtedly play a large hand in his father's downfall.

"Well well well it looks like the great prince is finally on his last leg" spoke one of the three last horsemen that were left alive. He was an average sized man but he was physically fit. All of the soldiers in Urû'baen were, except for the nobles that is.

"I can't believe this trash. He had everything, money, power, privilege, along with everything else that went with being the prince of the empire and yet he pulls something like this, trash" spoke another man much bigger than the first with big rippling muscles that were being used to hold up a giant war axe.

"Just goes to show you what spoiled brats really are like. They may act all proper in front of guests but on the inside all they do is scheme to get more than they already had. It sickens me to no end" spoke the smallest of the three men. In all honesty he was kind of thin though he had some muscle. Naruto assumed he was the magician because it surely wasn't the second guy.

"What do you think we should do with him? We could always kill him here and now and avenge our fallen comrades, or we could watch as the king made him squeal until finally killing him" asked the middle man as he looked down on Naruto. Naruto hated to admit it but that did scare the crap out of him. Death didn't scare Naruto, his father did.

"I say we skin him right here and then chop off all his limbs and watch him bleed to death" spoke the biggest one. He was obviously basically a barbarian with only muscle and no brains.

"I say we bring him to the king. You could be sadistic, but you've got nothing on the king" spoke the wizard as the three of them started arguing.

Naruto was happy about this. Maybe if they kept on arguing he would be able to get some of his magic back and kill them with it. As Naruto started to relax he felt another presence in the area. He thought it was another soldier, but then he heard a **twang **sound and the medium sized guy went down with an arrow in his head.

"What the" but that was as far as the magician got before Naruto had thrown another knife and pierced his head. Naruto was just happy he didn't have the time to use magic to defend himself.

"You bast" but that was as far as the barbarian got before an arrow went into one side of his head and then half of it came out the other side.

"It took you long enough" called out Naruto as he laid on the ground spread eagle.

"Naruto, is that you" asked Murtagh as he came out of the bushes.

"Yea, but we can't stay here long. I have a hoarse over there, please get him for me" spoke Naruto as he slowly started to get up. When he was finally standing Murtagh had returned with the black charger that he had been riding.

Murtagh watched as Naruto climbed onto the black charger and looked at him funny before saying "What is going on?"

Naruto held onto the bag full of dragon eggs and smiled at his friend. "Tonight is the night the fate of Alegasia changes" spoke Naruto as he opened the bag and let Murtagh see inside. His face was priceless.

"Dear God" spoke Murtagh as he knew what he was looking at, dragon eggs.


	3. Chapter 3

(Hybrid Chapter 3)

Naruto and Murtagh ran for their lives upon their powerful charges like the devil himself was chasing them, which wasn't all that far from the truth. They had been riding no stop for the two days and they and their horses were about ready to drop. Naruto had fed the horses what little energy he had left to keep them from killing themselves via over work.

"Naruto we are going to have to stop soon or the horses will die" shouted Murtagh as he looked at the back of Naruto and glanced at the dragon eggs that were in the sack. He felt like a champion for his part in the rescue of the dragon eggs and a fool because of what the king would do if he caught them which was highly likely.

"We have no idea what my father has sent to capture use. If we slow down they may catch us unawares and kill us" shouted Naruto but even he knew they wouldn't be able to run for much longer. The horses were selectively bred to make them stronger than regular horses but even they couldn't run forever.

Murtagh didn't say anything but he stopped his horse and let him trot over to a small stream they had been running alongside. He watched as Naruto shot him an angry look but sighed and followed Murtagh's example.

The surrounding area had a few trees surrounded by flat grasslands that were great for farming. The stream that ran through the area kept the lands fertile and kept the animals from going thirsty. The sky was clear and the sun was beating down on them causing Naruto and Murtagh to take refuge under a tree.

"You were right" spoke Naruto as he laid against a tree beside Murtagh and watched the horses gulp down the water greedily. He hated to admit he was wrong but Murtagh was his friend so it wasn't such a big deal to him.

"I get that you're stressed out, trust me I am to, but were going to need to keep our cool if we want to survive you father" spoke Murtagh as his eyes fought back sleep. He wasn't like Naruto; he was a pure human, so staying up for three nights without sleep and factor in the stressful situation they were in and you had an extremely tired human.

"Yea, but we can't rest for too long. The gods above could only guess what my father will do when he discovers out treachery as well as the absence of this precious dragon eggs if he hasn't already found out" spoke Naruto as he closed his eyes. Before he fell asleep he pulled out Shruikan's egg and fumbled with it in his hand with a smile on his face. Even if he died he would be remembered for weakening his father enough for someone to kill him.

"That isn't something I am looking forward to, though hopefully someone kills him before he can kill us" spoke Murtagh as he glanced through cracked eyes over at Naruto and watched as he held the black egg. He had meant to ask him about it but he hadn't had the time.

"It really wouldn't be so bad to be killed on my father's orders, what would be horrible is if we were captured alive and brought back to Urû'baen for torture" spoke Naruto as he looked over at Murtagh who was barely awake. He saw him eyeing the dragon egg and decided to mess with him. "Here hold onto this for me" spoke Naruto as he reached into the large back holding the dragon eggs and pulled one out only to give it to Murtagh.

Murtagh was shocked to say the least when Naruto had handed him a dragon egg, but his surprise quickly turned to anger. "Why would you give me this? You and I both know that there is no way a dragon would ever hatch for me and to add insult to injury you hand me a red dragon egg, the same color as my father's dragon" shouted Murtagh though it was kind of weak since he almost didn't have any strength left. He certainly wasn't expecting Naruto to start laughing.

"You have a much better chance than me of becoming a dragon rider" spoke Naruto as he held up his hand showing Murtagh the ring his father had given him which had the empire's royal family seal on it. "After all, my father is the reason the dragons are no more" laughed Naruto though it was hollow and filled with sadness.

"Sorry" spoke Murtagh as he dropped his head. He remembered the reason he and Naruto had become friends was because they were both scared shitless of their fathers and weren't treated very well by them either. Murtagh's father was more physically violent while Naruto's father took a sadistic pleasure in taking everything Naruto loved from him and then killing it or them. Come to think about it Murtagh was lucky he wasn't dead since he was Naruto's best friend.

"It's cool. I know your tired, hell so am I, so let's just drop it and catch a few Z's" spoke Naruto as he fell asleep as he leaned against the tree. Because of his shade blood he really didn't sleep very deeply. It was more like a strong daydream or a quick nap but that was all he needed to recharge his batteries.

"Alright I can sleep to that, but don't you think it would be ironic if we did actually become dragon riders? The son of one of the Foresworn and the son of the mad king teamed up to stop the destruction our father's had caused" joked Murtagh with a wistful tone in his voice. Naruto could tell he really wanted others to not see him for who his father was but for whom he was. Becoming a great rider for 'good' would obviously do that for him.

"Haha yea that would be a great sight, the sons of Alegasia's greatest villains teamed up to kill their fathers riding upon the same type of dragons their fathers had cut down so long ago on the road of revenge in both our own and the dragon's names. The pseudo immortality wouldn't be so bad either, so long as I had a good friend to spend that time with" spoke Naruto as he shifted his head a bit trying to get more comfortable. A cool wind blew against his face causing him to smile.

"What are you talking about you are immortal Mr. Shade" laughed Murtagh as he looked down at the red dragon egg in his hands. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life and he even entertained the thought of it hatching for him. He smiled a sad smile as he knew that would never happen.

"We don't know if I will live forever like Shades, Elves, and Dragons" spoke Naruto as he twirled the dragon egg in his hand before stopping it and marveling at the way the light bounced off of the dragon's reflexive shell "but it wouldn't hurt. I could spend eternity trying to stop my father and help whatever rider who is able to hatch these eggs kill him as well."

"Good idea" laughed Murtagh as sleep finally took him.

"I thought so" spoke Naruto as he to fell asleep.

**XXX**

Naruto and Murtagh awoke to the sound of heavy marching. At first they were not sure what it was but then they remembered what had happened the past few days and quickly jumped up and ran towards their horses.

Before they got to them Naruto grabbed Murtagh by the shirt and pulled him down while whispering a few words in the ancient language to make the horses transparent. It was a great spell for hiding but any magic user would be able you actually used magic so it was a double edged sword.

"What are you doing" whispered Murtagh furiously not understanding what was going on. He saw Naruto making a 'shushing' sound towards him so he shut his mouth. He felt something gently press against his conscience and slammed his shields into it as quickly as possible. That was when he felt Naruto slap him in the back of the head. He looked over at Naruto and saw the 'are you serious' look in his eyes and knew it was Naruto who had tried to contact him via the mind.

'Dumbass' was the first thing Naruto said as he gave Murtagh the 'you're a dumbass' look which caused Murtagh to glare at him.

'Fuck you' spoke Murtagh as he looked at Naruto with annoyance written all over his face. He wasn't happy at all. He was hot as hell; he had dirt in his mouth, grass in his eyes, and someone calling him a dumbass in his mind.

'This isn't the time. Slowly look up over in that direction' spoke Naruto as he pointed to their right. Murtagh did as he was told and raised his head a bit looking over the long grass but quickly pulled his head back down. Marching right there on the other side of the river was an entire clan of Urgals along with Kull.

'What the hell are they doing here' shouted Murtagh so loud through their mental connection that Naruto had to put up some of his own mental shields or else he would have gotten a serious migraine.

'Calm down you loud ass, jeeze. In case you have forgotten I am not physic, well I kind of am, but I can't predict the future and I am not all knowing so this doesn't count' replied Naruto as he glared at his best friend who returned it in full.

'Urgals, let along Kull, this close to the capital of the Empire is unheard of. What do you think they are doing' asked Murtagh trying to get their conversation on more appropriate levels. Naruto nodded his head and smiled a bit at his more serious side.

'I don't know, but I can feel an odd energy in the air. It feels like Durza and the Urgals are acting oddly obedient. Usually they are more energized than this but the looks on their faces say that they are solely focused on whatever task they have set out on' spoke Naruto as he examined the Urgal as they marched on by. It was rare to see one of the larger war bands to mobilize on this level.

'What should we do' asked Murtagh as he held onto the bow on his hip. It looked like one of the ones the empire soldiers used so Naruto figured he got it off of one of the three soldiers he helped Naruto kill.

'If Durza is involved then things are not good, because Durza as much as he hates it cannot defy my father so whatever he is doing has to have my father's schemes all over it. The only thing I can figure is they are using the Urgals to look for us but even if that were the truth then they would have had to already know that we were going to leave even before we did' spoke Naruto as he started to count the number of Kull and the number of regular Urgals.

'There is no way the Urgals would agree to whatever the king wanted. They hate him just as much as the Varden though they are more than happy to ignore him and continue bashing in each other's skulls' spoke Murtagh with venom in his voice. He didn't have any strong love for the Urgals that was for sure but honestly there was a time and a place for grudges.

'Do you think Durza is controlling them' asked Naruto more to himself than anything else. He knew Durza could do it if he wanted to but for what reason he had no idea since his father had a deep hatred for the Urgals so their purpose was unknown to him.

'It is possible, he isn't the most powerful shade but he is still a shade. More importantly did you notice which direction they were running' asked Murtagh as he started thinking very hard. Naruto looked over at him with a raised eye brow which made Murtagh sigh. 'They are running towards the Hadarac Desert, but the question is why?'

'I don't know the only thing on the other side of the Hadarac Desert is the Beor Mountains and Du Weldenvarden and I know an army of Urgals aren't even stupid enough to think they would be able to march in on the elves, not even my father is that stupid' spoke Naruto as he watched the fleeting image of the Urgals running off into the distance.

'So they are heading towards the Beor Mountains? That means their target is the dwarves, but why would the king care about them now? The dwarves went into seclusion a long time ago and haven't done anything to attract the attention of the empire' spoke Murtagh as he mounted up on his horse. The horse seemed much happier than it had in recent days.

'No not the dwarves, the Varden' spoke Naruto with a surprised mental voice. He hadn't thought about the Varden much since his father viewed them more as a joke than any real threat. It seemed that his father was done playing with them.

"What should we do? If the Urgals take out the Varden then the king will take out the Urgals which will only leave the dwarves though how long they will last against them is up for debate. Once they are taken care of the king will amass his armies and march on the elves. The elves are strong but they won't be able to stand up to the combined might of empire once he takes over the rest of Alegasia" spoke Murtagh as he looked over at Naruto with a worried look in his eyes. He really didn't want the empire to completely take over or else they were completely screwed.

"We have got to do something" spoke Naruto as he got up on his stolen horse and got comfortable in the saddle. He couldn't say that the captain who rode him before Naruto was that great but the horse certainly was. His saddle was soft and he rode with such grace that it really shocked him.

"Like what? You want to fight the Urgals face to face and get slaughtered or do you think we can out run the Urgals, find the Varden, warn them of the attack, and not get killed by either the Urgals, the Varden, or possibly Durza" asked Murtagh incredulously as he looked at Naruto like he was stupid. He wasn't going to go to the Varden to save them as he would be the one who ended up being killed because of who his father was.

"If we could kill Durza then the Urgals will be free of his control and will turn on one another. There is no way they will stay together once they are free of Durza's magic. If we kill Durza the Varden will be safe as will the elves and dwarves" spoke Naruto as he started ridding off across the grasslands towards the last place he could see the Urgals as they were running. Murtagh spurred on his own horse to catch up with Naruto.

"Are you crazy? Naruto I know your strong, maybe you are as strong as Durza, but even still he has an army of Urgals on his side. There is no way we will be able to kill him while he is surrounded by them" spoke Murtagh as he and Naruto rode their horses towards the Hadarac Desert at full speed. Murtagh groaned as he felt the hot air of the desert brush up against his face. He wasn't one for hot and dry it just wasn't his thing.

"You forget If Durza really is controlling them then his powers will be stretched thin trying to control the Urgals. He will be severely weakened when we catch up to him, enough so I will be able to kill him" spoke Naruto as he continued to spur his horse on. He could already see the ground starting to turn from lush grass into hard earth. Soon the earth would be sand and they would be officially in the Hadarac Desert.

"Even so he will still have an ARMY on his side. How do you expect to get close to him while surrounded by massive Kull? We would be dead before we even saw Durza and even if we did get to him it's not like you could just kill him just like that. It would take time, something an army of Urgals wouldn't give us" spoke Murtagh as he watched Naruto start moving even faster towards the Urgal army.

"If we just blend in by wearing their armor we could get close enough to Durza to kill him. All we would have to do is kill a scout party and we would be in" shouted Naruto as he spurred his horse onwards.

"You're impossible! At least let's stop by Bullridge to get some supplies" shouted Murtagh as he stopped his horse and changed direction.

"Urgh the fate of Alegasia may be in our hands and you want to take a giant detour for a few supplies" shouted Naruto as he started following Murtagh. By now it was getting late and the sun was starting to sink in the sky.

"Unlike you I need to eat every day to keep my strength up. I don't have a shade for a mother" shouted Murtagh as he and his horse charged on towards the city of Bullridge. Naruto just huffed a bit but ignored his annoyance to follow his friend.

They ran in silence for hours on end not talking to one another as the horses ran across patches of sand and grass. Bullridge was at the edge of a river that bordered the Hadarac Desert so it was kind of a highway for people coming and going from the Hadarac Desert though they were still kind of few.

By early the next morning the horses were tired but they had served their purpose and gotten them to Bullridge. The town was kind of small having mainly a small fishing trade and a large farming trade to keep them afloat. The buildings were kind of old and in disrepair but nothing major. They had an odd look to them though. Instead of being made from wood like most houses they seemed to be made of sand that was formed into the shapes of houses with weird curved tiles on the roofs for shingles.

"You go get your supplies while I go get a drink" spoke Naruto as he threw up a hood over his head to hide his face. Murtagh did the same but then let out a sigh.

"I don't have very much money because my escape was sort of rushed and Tornac had most of our money on him. We will have to spend our money wisely" spoke Murtagh as he showed Naruto a small purse that only had a few gold crowns in it.

"Here I was able to grab a few things while I was in my father's vault" spoke Naruto as he passed Murtagh a larger bag full of golden crowns, rubies, diamonds, and other jewels that were of great value.

"This is perfect now we won't have to eat dried horse meet" spoke Murtagh but then his horse made a weird sound. "I wouldn't eat you" spoke Murtagh which got him an appreciative sound from his horse.

"Weird, but yea something other than horse meet would be appreciated" spoke Naruto as he walked towards a large tavern with doors that didn't touch the ground and had where set up with hinges on the side so they easily opened up.

"Gotcha" spoke Murtagh as he walked off to go find a place that would sell them some supplies.

As Naruto entered the tavern he was greeted with odd looks of curiosity, confusion, and a look that said they were gaging whether or not he was worth robing. The tavern was dark and only had a few candles sitting on some of the walls and a few of the tables giving the tavern a dim lit look that would have hid many of the more shady people who were sitting in the corners but the darkness wasn't an enemy of Naruto's eyes.

Naruto walked over to the bar and looked up at the bar tender and nodded his head. The bartender, a large man with bulking muscles and only one eye nodded his head and walked off to get Naruto his drink. As Naruto was waiting on his drink he heard something that really interested him.

"Did you hear? They say that a new rider has been spotted in Alegasia and it isn't the king's dragon" spoke a shady man at the other end of the tavern in a hushed whisper but Naruto's hearing was way better than any humans and could hear him with ease.

"Yea I heard the dragon was truly fearsome and that its rider was a monster with a sword" spoke another man who was sitting with two other men.

"I heard that the dragon is as blue as a sapphire and its rider has the strength of ten men and is faster than the eyes could see" spoke the last man as he started to scratch his beard.

"Yea they say that they were last seen flying out towards the Hadarac Desert. Maybe the dragon rider is planning on joining the Varden" spoke the first man again. Naruto nearly fell out of his chair when he heard this last piece of information.

'So that is what the Urgals were chasing after' thought Naruto as he drained his ale and put his money on the table. After that he quickly rushed out of the tavern to go look for Murtagh. He found him five minutes later in what looked like a shouting match with a guard. Naruto quickly knocked out the guard and drug Murtagh away.

"Dude what are you doing" demanded Murtagh as he slapped Naruto's hand away from his shirt. He had been trying to get a few extra things for the stupid trip Naruto was about to force him on that he just knew was going to get them both killed.

"I found out why the Urgals were moving so fast towards the desert" spoke Naruto with glee in his voice. He seemed like a child who had figured out how to put his first puzzle together.

"Really? What is it" asked Murtagh as he looked over at Naruto. They were walking towards their horses that they had tied up to go do their business in the city. The horses seemed alright but they both knew they would have to be taking it easy as the horses would need time to recover from their long trip.

"I overheard some people talking in the tavern about a ferocious dragon and rider who were flying out towards the desert. That must be what the Urgals are chasing! Durza must be trying to kill this new rider at my father's request" spoke Naruto as he checked to make sure the dragon eggs were still in the bag on his horse. Murtagh had taken to carrying the red egg but Naruto kept the other ones. Naruto did notice that Murtagh was strangely attached to that red egg.

"So the blue egg that Galbatorix is so fascinated by did finally hatch for a new rider. The rider is obviously not safe in the empire so leaving was smart but by leaving he is making it official that he is against Galbatorix which is not very smart" spoke Murtagh as he and Naruto ran off into the desert. He wasn't thinking that running into the freezing desert during the night were sand storms were frequent as well as the dangers of the Urgals was very smart either but he didn't want Naruto to start making fun of him for bitching like he used to when they were kids.

"Yea he doesn't seem very smart but remember he got past the empire and made it into the desert all by himself so he can't be too stupid, though us stealing from my dad and running away doesn't make us look that smart either" spoke Naruto as he looked out into the desert and groaned a bit himself. He hated when things didn't change and running across a desert that all looked the same for days on end would surely dive him insane. He heard Murtagh grumble something but just ignored it knowing he was always a grumpy guy.

Naruto was right in that the ride through the desert sucked the big one. The sand that was kicked up by the monstrous winds pelted their eyes causing them to squint but even that didn't help much and the grains felt like tiny stingers that were constantly attacking them. When the wind wasn't blowing sand up in their eyes it was still and unmoving making the overhead sun unbearable. Murtagh was sunburned in the areas where his clothes didn't cover and although Naruto didn't burn and was immune to a good deal of the heat the blinding sun was still a killer.

The worst part of all by far though was Murtagh. After the first day all he did was bitch. It had been his nickname when they were kids and he hated it but it was usually really good because he would stop bitching when someone would say 'shut up lil bitch' which was always funny to watch. He complained about how hot it was during the day, how cold he was during the night, how the sun was blinding him, how his back hurt from all the horse riding, etc. All he did was bitch and honestly Naruto was contemplating turning him into a shade just to shut him up.

"Hey Murtagh I think were about half way there" spoke Naruto as he saw a large mountain out in the distance. He had seen plenty of maps of Alegasia and knew that there were two groups of mountains in the center of the Hadarac desert. They were like the oasis in the desert.

"Great now I can finally get out of this hellish heat" spoke Murtagh with little less than a grumble. He had been a pain in the ass for the past few days now as they searched for the Urgals. They didn't know were in the mountains the Varden was so they just figured they would search around.

Naruto just sighed and ushered his horse on towards the mountains. When they got there they quickly found a small lake with trees and grass surrounding it with plenty of shade. They all rushed over and began drinking the pure oasis water until they fell back and relaxed under an open palm tree. Naruto looked over at Murtagh and used the ancient language to heal his sun burn.

"Thanks" spoke Murtagh losing the annoying tone in his voice that had been there for so long. He truly seemed grateful and began to fiddle with the red dragon egg.

"You're welcome. Sorry about dragging you out here" spoke Naruto as he played with Shruikan's dragon egg. He couldn't wait to see how happy Shruikan would be with a real rider. He could only hope that the rider would treat Shruikan how he deserved to be treated.

"It is cool" spoke Murtagh as he put the egg down and began to drink some water from his flask.

"Hey do" but that was as far as Naruto got before a loud cheep cut him off.

"What was that" asked Murtagh but then another cheeping sound came from the other side of Murtagh.

"What is going on" asked Naruto as he stood up.

"I'm not sure" said Murtagh as he did the same.

"Cheep cheep cheep" came to the ears of Naruto and Murtagh but then their eyes went wide as they looked down at the dragon eggs that were starting to roll around.

"There is no way" spoke Naruto as he watched cracks starting to form in the dragon eggs

"That we could become" continued Murtagh as he watched the eggs basically explode revealing small yet cute lizards with large wings that could only mean one thing.

"Dragon riders" spoke both Murtagh and Naruto at the same time as they watched the two dragons walking around bumping into things while making cheeping noises.

"Naruto tell me I am not dreaming" spoke Murtagh not being able to remove his eyes from the two dragons that were in front of him.

"I really hope not" was Naruto only reply as he knelt down and looked at the baby dragon. Its little scaly black head swiftly turned around to look at him with deep glacier blue eyes that bellowed its intelligence.

Naruto stuck out his hand very slowly intending to pet it. The dragon sniffed Naruto's hand for a second before rubbing its head against Naruto's left hand like a cat making cute purring sounds. Unfortunately for Naruto who was sent flying across the ground and into a tree the experience wasn't as fun for him. Every muscle in his body was in pain and it felt like ice water was rushing through his veins. When Naruto was finally able to move her brought up his left hand and saw what appeared to be a small silver dragon wrapped around his index finger.

"Hey murt" but that was as far as Naruto got before he heard a yip sound and saw Murtagh go flying into the opposite direction. He saw the smug look on the red dragon's face and knew that it had chosen Murtagh to be his rider like the black dragon had chosen him.

"Yea" was the painful reply that Murtagh gave him.

"It looks like irony has a sense of humor" shouted Naruto as he began to laugh.

All Murtagh could do is start laughing. This hellish adventure had really turned things around for him and his friend and now it looked like they would become great legends.


	4. Chapter 4

(Hybrid Chapter 4)

Naruto sat looking down at the little black lizard with wings, or dragon, as others had come to call them and just reviled in its beauty. It had a long thick neck that looked both strong and agile, while still keeping the exotic and noble appeal that he hadn't seen before when he was his father's dragon, though that might have been because of the bastardized bond his father had made.

The dragon had large black wings that were over two times larger than the rest of his body. The wings were somewhat see through with small bones spread out through them like pieces of string. Because the membrane was see through and because of Shruikan's color was black, the membrane was black as well but it didn't have the shine the scales had though it did have black blood vessels spread out through them than the shiny jet black that his scales were.

Naruto had seen Shruikan as a walking mountain when he was in his father's control, but he always seemed so full of hate and anguish that it gave him a twisted look. Now though he was so cute and he didn't seem unhappy at all, in fact it was the exact opposite. He was walking around bumping into things as he tried to get used to walking while growling at things like butterflies. It was made even cuter when after he growled at a particularly large butterfly it decided to land on Shruikan's nose giving him an odd look, like he was wearing an intricate mask.

What confused Naruto was that Shruikan had in fact changed so much. Naruto could see Shruikan had turned into a baby dragon, but now he was even acting like one. It was like time had sucked in the old Shruikan and spat out him in egg form before Galbatorix had found and stolen him. Naruto had tried to make contact by using his mind but only senses came back to him such as hunger, curiosity, and other things that would come and go in moments as the dragon gained and lost interest in different things.

Naruto wasn't the only one enjoying himself. Murtagh hadn't let his little red dragon out of his sight and kept on playing with it nonstop. The dragon was happy and would play back, but Naruto thought that it should be able to explore a bit on its own, granted Shruikan was never alone. Naruto would just hide and let him think he was and watch over him to make sure nothing happened to him.

It had been a week since the dragon eggs had hatched and they were already growing very quickly, Shruikan even more so than the little red dragon, but Naruto just figured it had something to do with Shruikan already growing up once.

The thing Naruto had enjoyed doing other than playing with Shruikan was teaching Murtagh about magic. He was a natural at it, but still he had his limitations. Naruto had not wanted to teach Murtagh as he had been taught, so he altered the courses a bit. He had Murtagh use magic to spin a rock in his hand. This taught him how to harness his magic as well as control it. It would take some time for him to build up his magic to useful levels but he was a rider so he would grow in power for sure.

Murtagh had been greatly interested in magic, but was disappointed when Naruto refused to just teach him a bunch of spells. It seemed that Murtagh didn't take a liking to being taught by someone younger than he was. He seemed to have a small inferiority complex and was quick to anger if things didn't go his way after a few hours of trying.

Naruto was patient with Murtagh and taught him spells that were of relevance. He taught him some minor healing spells as well as some charm work, followed by a few low level offensive spells. He didn't want Murtagh to get all excited using magic and then use a spell he wasn't ready for and kill himself. He wouldn't be able to look Murtagh's dragon in the eye after something like that and had set out to curve his feelings of friendship when teaching him.

The plus side was that although they were in the middle of the Hadarac Desert they were perfectly comfortable. The mountains provided shade and because some of them were so high in the air they would catch what little moister there was in the air, causing it to drip down into the surrounding valley. This reaction was great because it created a giant oasis in the center of the Desert which was full of exotic fruits, vegetables, crystal clear water, and wild game for them to eat.

The heat was still a pain in the ass and the occasional sand storm did put a damper on an otherwise perfect place, but they learned to ignore the small things and decided to go adventuring. From what they had learned when being taught by their private teachers in Urû'baen, the Hadarac Desert used to be under a sea, which was probably why the mountains had so many caves, and other odd occurrences.

Naruto had used magic to make one of the caves more homely by expanding it and making the entrance narrower. This kept the larger animals out of their cave during the night as well as the cold, and kept the heat out during the day as well as the sand from sand storms.

They continued to practice their other skills in the meantime as well. They practiced sword fighting which they were both masters of, though Naruto could have easily won with his super human capabilities. They also continued to practice with their bows. They would set up targets long ways away and shoot them with deadly accuracy, though Durza had to use spells to keep his make shift bow from being destroyed by he himself.

All in all their lives had greatly improved over the past week. They had all the freedom they had ever wanted, great company, and as far as they knew they were safe for the first time in their lives. They were positive the Empire didn't know where they were, they were unlikely to be found out here in the desert, and even if they were they could…. Have it taken care of. The sand storms would have removed their tracks and their sent trail, so there shouldn't be any way for the Empire to find them, but for some reason Naruto felt like he was forgetting something.

**XXX Two Months Later, At Night XXX**

As Naruto and Murtagh were lying down to fall asleep, their dragons crawled up beside them and letting Murtagh and Naruto sleep on their warm sides. The warmth shared between rider and dragon was more soothing, comfortable, and had the perfect warmth, it easily put blankets and even magic to shame.

As Naruto was closing his eyes preparing for another shallow sleep he bolted up and looked out of the hole in their have. He felt something, like he was being watched, and those watching him were planning something sinister.

He looked out into the darkness once again thanking his shade mother for the gifts she passed onto him and stared down into the valley looking into the thick trees for any signs of sentient life. He first started out by looking for anything that would give others away like fire, magical lights, or shiny armor. He was surprised when he didn't see a thing so he used his mind to start scouring the area. He felt the minds of animals, bugs, and other life forms, but didn't feel anything that could be dangerous to them. He strained his ears to hear anything but once again he was met with silence.

He looked back when he heard the rustling coming from behind him and turned around to see Murtagh beside him looking around with squinted eyes trying to see what Naruto had been so adamantly searching for with his bow and arrow in hand.

"What's going on" whispered Murtagh as he continued searching for anything that could be seen as an enemy. Naruto wasn't easily spooked and the look in his eyes said that there was danger, so he reacted as best he could.

"I am not sure. I just felt like there was danger and that somebody was watching me. It could have been my imagination or a sixth sense" spoke Naruto as he rubbed his chin and looked back into the cave. Their dragons had picked their heads up and were looking at them with interest.

"Could someone be scrying you" asked Murtagh. The other day Naruto had been teaching him about scrying. He said it was a great way for magic users to get in contact with one another and pass on information. It was much faster than having someone run across Alegasia which could take months when all you had to do was look into a vase of water, say a few magic words, and then have a conversation, though you probably shouldn't exceed your energy level or you will die.

"I put up spells to tell me and to keep others from scrying us, but if it were my dad I wouldn't be surprised if he knew ways around things like that" spoke Naruto as he gripped the spear he had taken off the last Empire soldier he had killed.

"If your father knows where we are we are screwed. We will have to leave tonight" spoke Murtagh as he walked back into the cave about to get ready to pack up their things and head out into the god forsaken desert in the middle of the night, idiot.

"Even if he did see us he can only see around us in a small area. Were in a cave so all he saw was rocks. There is no way he would be able to tell where we are just from that" spoke Naruto as he laid back down beside his dragon. It looked at him funny but when Naruto started to scratch the underside of his neck he let out a content purr and laid back down.

Murtagh looked over at Naruto and then back out into the darkness. He wanted to trust his friend but this was Galbatorix they were talking about. He was the one who destroyed the riders and ruled the Empire with an iron fist. If there was one person Murtagh didn't want to run into ever again it was the mad king. With a sigh Murtagh copied Naruto and laid back down beside his dragon before falling into a tense sleep.

**XXX Hidden in Darkness XXX**

Three figures walked out of the shadows like they were emerging from it. They wore cloaks that hid their faces and body and had thin sharp swords at their hips. They made a few almost in audible chirping sounds towards one another for a few minutes.

The chirping continued, some sounded angry while the rest sounded passive. Eventually two of the tree creatures turned away from the third and ran towards their mounts that they had hidden under a net with leaves woven into it for camouflage.

The third one made an annoyed chirp sound before following the others and getting on the third giant leathery looking creature. As silently as the breath of a ghost they took off into the night hidden even then by the dark and cloudy sky.

**XXX with Durza and Army XXX**

Durza was sitting in his tent with a disgusting sneer on his face, though he did have an evil glint in his eye. He wore the same clothes he had always worn while reading a black book that described spells that he hadn't ever heard of before. They were powerful and best of all, dark.

Durza was in between feelings of glee, anger, and disgust. He had found this black book in one of the Urgal's belonging which was both surprising and exciting. He never would have thought that the war bound idiots would ever be able to come up with decent spell casters, let along beautiful dark magic like this. The find had almost been enough for Durza to show the heathen race a modicum of respect, but then he saw the way they dressed and interacted in their 'society' and instantly the feelings fled him.

Another great thing that had recently happened in his life was that the king's dragon was gone, and was believed to be either dead and the body hidden, though how that would be possible was a mystery to Durza, or it somehow escaped the bond Galbatorix forced on him and fled somewhere the king couldn't find.

Durza had his suspicions that Naruto had something to do with this. He had been talking about the 'bond' Galbatorix and he had made all that time ago, and was a very accomplished spell caster, the third best in the empire right after Galbatorix and Durza, though this was Durza's opinion. He assumed that Naruto had done something with or to Shruikan to make him disappear but his curiosity was eating him alive as to what that was. It must have been great magic to make a small mountain like Shruikan just disappear, which was why Durza wanted to know about it.

His anger came in the fact that since Naruto and Murtagh had escaped, he, and to a great extent anyone who got in the kings way, and almost all of the guards, were subjected to the kings rage. That wasn't pleasant in the least as many had lost their lives, and Durza had to listen to the kings incessant rant for hours on end about how this and that was his fault and how the king thought he was so incompetent. His anger grew to levels he had never known but even then Durza knew to keep his mouth shut.

The final thing was more of an inconvenience than anything else. Durza hated Urgals nearly as much as the king did. They were smelly, way too big, and far too stupid in Durza's opinion. They were uncivilized wearing loincloths and carrying giant war axes like stupid cave men. It was so disgusting that Durza wanted to just kill them all, but the king had insisted that they would be useful to shock troops to take out the Varden while he captured the blue dragon rider and brought him to Galbatorix himself.

Just as Durza was standing up off of his small throne he made with magic out of the skulls of the humans and Urgal that had died on their way out towards the Varden, he saw three hooded creatures enter his tent. The human skulls came from cities they passed, and the Urgal skulls were from the off chance when Urgals were killed by farmers, useless.

Durza looked down on the hooded creatures and sneered a bit. He knew what they were; it was obvious by the way he couldn't even scratch their mental defenses that they were Ra'zac. Only the elves where strong enough to resist him for long, but the Ra'zac were completely immune to all mental based abilities.

"Why are you here? The king in need of something he can't do on his own" sneered Durza as he looked down on the three creatures. He could respect dark creatures, but these things with their corpse breath were just to nauseating for him to stand their presence for prolonged periods of time.

"We have come to deliver word on the two who stole the king's dragon eggs. It appears they were in the mountains in the center of the Hadarac Desert, and it seems two of the dragon eggs have hatched for the king's son and the son of the last of the foresworn" spoke the Ra'zac with a raspy voice that had sporadic clicks in it, like it was having a hard time speaking the common tongue over its own.

Durza stood deathly still on his throne. The thought of the king having not just one, but two riders under him was sickening to Durza. He wasn't about to stand around and let some brats order him around just because over grown lizards had created some ridiculous bond with them, but on the other hand two riders under him would be perfect for taking out the king and becoming the new king of the empire. The riders would be forced to serve him yes, and he would rule forever. Just the thought made him start to chuckle with a hollow evil voice.

"The king wishes you to ignore the dragon rider of the blue dragon and focus on the other two. He says that using a full scale invasion could lead to an accident which is unacceptable since the blue dragon must be captured at all costs" spoke the Ra'zac looking at Durza. He was repeating what the king had told him though he didn't like it one bit. The king knew all of the members of his kind's true name and held absolute control over them, something they all hated.

"But we are ready to strike tonight! If we turn around now they will know how we planned on attacking and will surely improve their defenses making it that much harder for us to get rid of these worthless rebels" shouted Durza as he stood up with evil and hatred burning in his crimson eyes. The Ra'zac didn't falter in the slightest and continued to stare at the shade unafraid.

"The king doesn't care about your bastard army. You could all die for all he cares just so long as the rebels are dealt with. The king's only interest is in the dragons. He wants them all alive if possible, if not then kill them, but he says that the blue dragon must be alive no matter what" spoke the last Ra'zac before all three of them left the room. Their mission was complete, they had found the traitors, reported it to Durza, so now they could go back to their lair to look after the next generation.

When the Ra'zac where gone Durza blasted an Urgal who walked into his tent into pieces. His rage was palpable in the air and the magic created a crackling noise around him. He was angry and there were two people he was about to take that anger out on, Naruto the span of the mad king, and Murtagh, the spawn of the last of the foresworn.

Durza walked out of his tent and looked down a hill. The hill was shallow but had a noticeable angle perfect for a leader to watch his troops with. The Urgals were mindlessly working of armor, weapons, Durza wished more clothing, and other things that they would need for war. It annoyed Durza that it would take a day or two just to pack up their thing just to start moving, and then they would spend the rest of their time running around the desert looking for two worthless idiots.

"Listen up" shouted Durza and like a light had been flicked on the Urgals stopped what they were doing and looked over at Durza with glazed stares. This just made Durza all the more happy, but he shoved those thoughts aside and continued on with what he was doing.

"Pack up boys, we have a new mission. I want this done by tomorrow" shouted Durza as he walked back into his tent. He heard the rustling of the Urgals as they tried to accomplish the task Durza had set out for them. Durza knew that even at full speed it would take at least two days for the Urgals to pack up, they did have a lot of crap after all, but Durza was prepared to spend that time sharpening his blade slowly with an evil look in his eyes.

'Oh I am coming for you, abomination' thought Durza with an evil grin showing his filed down teeth.

**XXX Varden XXX**

The Varden was in a panic, soldiers both Dwarven and Human alike running around trying to prepare everything they could for the inevitable battle with the giant Urgal army. The mages were getting ready by casting spells and enchantments on people and objects alike. The people who were not soldiers, mainly women and children, were taken town to a safe place to keep them out of harm's way as well as the battle.

Up in the command center a dark skinned man, a tall thin pail skinned man, a dark skinned girl, a young human boy, and an eleven woman were standing in the war room talking about battle strategies. They had planned to collapse certain tunnels to make the Urgals and Kull channel out into certain areas, but then a young boy came in looking both shocked and surprised.

"What is it" demanded Ajihad as he looked up at the small errand boy. Ajihad was a tall dark skinned man with large muscles and a stern glare. He had led the Varden through the good and the bad.

"News from our sentry's sir. It appears the Urgals are packing up, and are preparing to leave. The sentry's also overhead the shade leading them say they were moving out" spoke the boy before giving a low bow before running off again leaving the entire room in a state of shock.

"What is going on? Why would the shade and Urgals just leave" asked Eragon as he looked around the room trying to figure out what was happening. Everyone had looks of confusion and concentration but Arya's face was blank as usual.

"Why would indeed? This would have been an excellent opportunity for them to do real damage to us and yet they are backing out right at the finish line. Something doesn't seem right" spoke Ajihad as he rubbed his chin. He had been very worried about the upcoming battle. Fighting an army of Urgals that large was damn near impossible without the great defenses of Tronjheim, but throw in a shade on their side and the Varden was basically screwed. There only hope was an inexperienced dragon rider and his dragon. While bother were fierce in their own ways they were still young and mainly untrained. Against a shade they were almost assuredly going to lose.

"It could have something to do with the rumors" spoke Nasuada as he calmly looked at the occupants in the room. Her father sighed but the rest looked confused except for Arya of course.

"What rumors" asked Eragon ready to hear anything that might explain what is going on.

"It is just a wild rumor that has no basis" spoke Jormunder as he looked over a Nasuada with an exasperated look which told everyone in the room that she had mentioned it quite a lot.

"All legends are based on facts, this rumor while wildly exaggerated, may give us some insight" spoke Arya as she looked at everyone in the room. Nobody argued with her knowing it wasn't worth it, given her age and experience, plus race.

"From the rumors it appears that the king's dragon was destroyed since nobody can find it, and apparently the king's son and the son of Morzan escaped Urû'baen, but the best part is they stole the king's dragon eggs" spoke Nasuada causing Eragon to gasp, and a hopeful sensation from Saphira to run down his spine in hope.

"It is both ridiculous and impossible" spoke Aihad thinking that would settle it, but it seemed it didn't.

"Father you and I both know that many people were killed recently in Urû'baen and when the king came back he killed many more. What else could have caused the king to react so" demanded Nesuada as she glared at her father with the same intensity he himself held in his own glare.

"If it were true, then it would be a viable explanation as to what is happening. I can't think of a reason that the king would order his own personal shade and Urgal army to turn around from attacking us at the last moment. I doubt they were going towards the land of the elves, so any other reason sounds pointless" spoke Arya looking around. She herself didn't believe the rumors much, but one human who didn't live in Urû'baen stole one egg, why couldn't someone who lived in the castle steal them all? The issue with Shruikan she believed was just wishful thinking. Nobody wanted that thing alive, or so she figured.

"So what? We can't do anything anyways. If we leave these mountains with those monsters running around we would be massacred. We only had a hope because of Eragon, Saphira, and the defenses of Tronjheim" spoke Ajihad as he stared at Arya who didn't even blink.

"I am not asking you to risk the Varden to chase so rumor, I was just stating the facts. I personally don't believe the rumor, but I will still take it into consideration" spoke Arya not even raising her voice in the slightest. Ajihad just nodded his head and looked back at the map.

Eragon was angry that they would let someone who possibly risked their lives to steal those eggs for them just die or be captured making all of their efforts go to waste. Saphira wasn't happy ether but she knew they wouldn't last if the Urgals saw them. They would be shot down, captured, and drug off by the Urgals and that shade.

"It seems we may not be as safe here as we thought. We may have to start putting in a contingency plan" spoke Ajihad as he went back to looking at the map trying to figure out what he was going to do next.

**XXX One Month Later XXX**

The dragons had gotten much bigger, big enough for them to ride, and they had spent much of their time training with swords, arrows, magic, and flying, but they knew soon they would have to leave and find a master to learn from. Naruto was a great magic user, extremely powerful to boot, but even his knowledge was limited.

They knew they would have to leave and search out for someone to continue their training. They had considered discreetly looking around the Empire but decided against it, to many spies. The Varden was next but even that idea was quickly shot down, neither of them wanted to be arrested for being the sons of the king and last of the forsworn. That meant the dwarves were out since they were so close with the Varden. That left only one race, the elves, but finding them would be difficult and dangerous. They were not keen on dying just yet and with their heritage and Naruto's unique genealogy they may try and kill them riders or not. The only thing they could bank on was the fact that both of the new that the elves basically worshiped dragons. With their dragons with them they should be fine, or so they figured.

"Hey Naruto do you feel that" asked Murtagh as he walked towards Naruto. Naruto nodded his head and kneeled down putting his fingers in the ground. It was faint but it was there. Heavy vibrations were coming towards them and it was coming from the west.

"What do you think it is" asked Naruto looking out into the distance seeing a giant cloud of dust and sand flailing around in the air. It was odd, compared to what other sand storms looked like, but there was always a reason for everything.

"Sand storm" asked Murtagh already walking towards their cave. Thorn was right behind him. Naruto still got a kick out of the name since Naruto had always called Murtagh a pain in the ass when they were kids. That ended up in them getting into a nonlethal fight.

"No the formation is all wrong. When a sand storm roles in you can see the sand running in a specific direction. That sand just looks like it is being knocked into the air" spoke Naruto as he squinted his eyes trying to see even further than he already could.

"Maybe me and Thorn should fly up and see what is happening. I could use Thorn's 'Dragon Sight' and find out what it is" spoke Murtagh as he jumped on Thorn's back. The saddle he was using was a crude make that they had personally made from the flesh of other animals since there were no cows in the desert where they were.

"Alright but be quick. If it is a sand storm and your caught by it you're as good as dead" spoke Naruto as he started walking towards the cave. Shruikan was walking beside him lazily looking around. Even after three months in the same place he still seemed interested in every little thing he saw. Naruto thought of him as a curious kid, but his deep ancient voice spoke otherwise when they talked through their mental connection.

As Naruto was walking he got this weird panicked probe smash into his mental defenses. He swatted it away quickly but then it and another more powerful mind smashed into his mental defense. Naruto instantly knew it was Murtagh and Thorn so he opened up the connection.

_What's with you_ asked Naruto as he looked up into the sky and saw Murtagh and Thorn flying around. He did notice like the mental probe their flying was ridged and nervous.

_This isn't the time! That isn't a dust storm, it's the army of Urgals we saw three months ago, and their numbers don't seem to have gone down. If anything their numbers have increased_ shouted Murtagh across their mental connection. Instantly Naruto was worried and jumped on Shruikan's back.

_What is going on sparky_ asked Shruikan as he turned his head to look at Naruto. What appeared to be a dragon smirk formed on his scaly face which would have caused Naruto to laugh if the situation wasn't so dire?

_Urgals! There is an army of them coming our way. We need to do something _spoke Naruto as he looked down at Shruikan who now seemed so much more serious.

_We could always fly away. They may be strong and have great endurance but there isn't anything that can catch a dragon_ spoke Shruikan. He was prideful like all dragons apparently but he was smart and knew when he couldn't win.

_Good idea, I will tell Murtagh to follow us_ spoke Naruto as he reconnected his mind with Murtagh. He knew that their dragons were young and couldn't fly all the way across the desert the first flight but they would get them far enough away from the Urgals so it didn't matter for now.

_Murtagh were_ but that was as far as Naruto got before a ball of fire shot at them with powerful force. Naruto reacted on instinct and shouted "**Brakka**" which caused the fireball to shrink down until it reduced into nothing more than a small harmless spark.

"You have gotten stronger abomination, or should I call you a rider now" spoke Durza as he came out of the shadows. Naruto growled when he saw that skull face of Durza and his evil red eyes.

"So I was right, the Urgals are under your magic which is why they are obeying you and by extension the empire" spoke Naruto as he held onto his spear. It was crappy to say the least after all the training he had done with it and it being of human make but it was something he would deal with. He couldn't show weakness to an enemy like this.

"Ah so you knew? How did you find out? From the way you phrased that last statement it would seem as if you have been in contact with my little monster army" spoke Durza with a creepy smile that flashed his small filed down sharp teeth. When he smiled it was like viewing an image of hell.

_Naruto what is going on _asked Murtagh through their mental connection? Naruto was sweating a bit. He was strong true, he was a rider true, he should be able to match up with and even defeat Durza on his own now that he was a rider, but Durza had countless years of both fighting and magical experience. That wasn't something raw power could just overcome. This battle would be a close one, for that Naruto knew for sure.

_Fly to the topless mountain! We need to get away from the Urgals if we are to kill Durza. After that they will probably just kill one another_ thought Naruto as he held his spear in his hand. Throwing it would be like saying hey I don't need this. Durza would easily dodge it and then he would be weaponless.

_Don't die_ was the only thing Murtagh said but it was all that was needed to be said. Naruto nodded his head.

_**Are you ready? This creature is powerful. Even with our combined might we will still be in a tight pinch **_spoke Shruikan through their mental link. He was ready for battle. The animals in the area had lost any challenge when he was hunting, but now he felt alive.

_Please I will kill this wanabee in no time flat _spoke Naruto though he didn't feel as confident as he portrayed.

"It is time you come with me. You will make a great servant to use when I kill that father of yours and become king" spoke Durza as he pulled out his long sword. It had a bone handles with a silver guard and a claw at the bottom with a clinched claw.

"I serve no man" shouted Naruto as he pointed his hand at Durza "let alone monsters, **Malthinae**" shouted Naruto and a flash of purple light shown from Naruto's hadn't. Durza instantly fell to the grown looking like his hands and legs were bound, but Naruto knew better. He would get up any second, but before he could Naruto jumped on Shruikan and flew off to the top of the flat mountain.

As Naruto and Shruikan flew they heard screaming and looked back. When they did they saw the enraged face of Durza with evil in his eyes.

_You might want to fly a little faster there old buddy _spoke Naruto as he urged Shruikan to fly faster. Naruto looked back hearing Durza chanting in the ancient language and when he got done a black monster that resembled a dragon, or more specifically Shruikan, with smoke coming off of it and red eyes. _Yea a little faster would be greatly appreciated_.

_**Scared?**_ Shruikan was flying as fast as he could but even still he could mess with his rider. When he saw the black abomination he got angry though. _**I am going to kill that cheap imitation**_ was the last thing Shruikan said to Naruto before the landed on Topless Mountain.

Topless Mountain was a mountain Naruto had named half as a joke half as a smart ass. The mountain for some reason was missing the top leaving a large flat piece of land that hundreds of dragons could fit on if they didn't mind personal space. It was a great look out section and was also a great place to train.

When Naruto and Shruikan landed on the mountain they were right beside Murtagh and Thorn. Thorn and Shruikan looked at each other and Naruto and Murtagh knew they were talking.

"What do we do" asked Murtagh as he looked at Naruto.

"I'll handle Durza, you try to keep the Urgals from making it up here" spoke Naruto as he and Shruikan flew off into the sky to meet Durza. They had seen Urgals climbing the side of the mountain trying to get to Thorn and Murtagh.

Murtagh readied his bow and Thorn flexed his claws. He was going to spill Urgal blood like it was his job.

**XXX with Naruto and Shruikan XXX**

When Naruto and Shruikan were eye level with the shade dragon they flew at it with all their might. Shruikan was an excellent flyer and was able to avoid the shade dragon's bite and claws while Naruto jabbed his spear into the creature's stomach but oddly he didn't feel it hit anything.

"You will have to do better than that rider. This creature can't be killed" laughed Durza like a mad man as a fire ball formed in his hand right before he threw it at Naruto and Shruikan. Shruikan dodged the fireball and looked at Naruto. Naruto nodded his head and they flew towards the shade dragon at full speeds once again.

"This again? You're not very bright are you" taunted Durza as they repeated what just happened. When Durza turned around he saw Shruikan but he didn't see Naruto riding him.

"I am much smarter than you" spoke Naruto from behind Durza as he jammed the spear forward. Durza wasn't to be defeated so easily and dodged the attack even at close range. Naruto swore under his breath and went back to attacking Durza.

As they fought, and looked like blurs because of how fast they were moving, Shruikan attacked the shade dragon again, but this time it aimed for the head.

_**Everything has a weak spot**_ thought Shruikan as he latched onto the shade dragon. The shade dragon started to holler and scream in pain but that just caused Shruikan to bite even harder. The shade dragon tried to shake Shruikan off but Shruikan had a strong hold and wasn't about to let go.

"Worthless creature" shouted Durza as he looked back at the place where Shruikan was holding onto the shade dragon's head with his teeth. He pointed his hand at Shruikan starting to form words in the ancient language when a sharp pain rushed through his body. When he looked down he saw a spear coming out of his heart.

"Who's not so smart now? Did they ever teach you, don't turn you back on your enemies" spoke Naruto with a grin on his face as he ripped the spear back out. Durza made the loudest ear splitting sound Naruto had ever heard right before he exploded rocketing Naruto into the open air, and the shade dragon dissolved.

Shruikan quickly recovered in the air and flew as fast as possible to catch Naruto in his claws. When he did he saw the energy that came out of Durza's body rushing into Naruto's right before three bright orbs were sucked into him as well. Shruikan was worried but there wasn't much he could do.

**XXX with Thorn and Murtagh XXX**

Murtagh and Thorn were doing a great job killing the Urgals as they climbed up the side of the mountain. When Murtagh ran out of arrows they went to the pickup and drop method. It was really simple see Thorn would fly down and pick off an Urgal from the cliff and then drop him to his death. There was also the brush technique where Thorn would stick his tail out to the side and hit as many Urgals in one sweep as possible thus making them fall to their deaths. This all worked great until the Urgals started panicking and acting like they had no idea where they were.

The Urgals started to panic, some fell off the mountains, while others tried to kill one another the massive army of Urgals started shouting and their formation crumbled almost immediately. Murtagh was having a blast watching them kill one another for about ten seconds before a Kull started shouting at them.

"Silence" shouted a Kull, standing ten feet tall, giant muscles, and an aura of both power and authority falling around him. The other Kull and Urgals regardless of clan turned around and looked at him. Not one tried to kill the other while he spoke.

"I am Garzhvog, leader of my tribe. I call forth all tribe leaders" shouted Garzhvog causing all the other Urgals to look around. Eventually other Kull and Urgals stepped forward. Eventually Garzhvog, Otvek, Khagra, Tarok, Gashz, Skgahgrezh, Yarbog, Dazhgra were all standing before one another. They looked confused and angry, not a good sign for the Urgals and Kull.

"Why have you called us" demanded Gashz as he stepped before Garzhvog with anger in his eyes.

"Before we kill one another in senseless slaughter I believe it would be best to discuss this. If we don't stand together the mad king will kill us all. None of us are stupid enough to believe he couldn't if he wished to, and after today I believe we can all agree he soon will" spoke Garzhvog looking down on the smaller Kull with fierce power in his eyes.

"What is your point" asked Dazhgra looking at the legendary Garzhvog, a hero amongst the Urgals.

"I say we join together and fight the mad king. It may be our only chance at survival" spoke Garzhvog looking at the rest of them. Some of seemed to agree while others looked skeptical.

"Like you said even together we would fall before the black king. Are you trying to march us to our doom" asked Tarok thinking the shade had messed up Garzhvog's mind.

"Yes alone we will die, but if they lead us our chance of victory greatly increases" spoke Garzhvog as he pointed up into the sky. When others looked up they gasped. Flying around was a black dragon and a red dragon both with their own riders.

"You plan to let others lead us? They are children, and humans at that, what good will it do us to let them lead" asked Khagra looking at the dragons with both aw and annoyance.

"They are powerful if they can kill the shade and it is said that all riders were born leaders. With them I believe we can win" spoke Garzhvog with conviction in his voice. He truly believed that only a rider could kill the black king.

"Well let's go talk to him at least" spoke Otvek as he and the other leaders climbed up the mountain intent on talking to Naruto and Murtagh. They needed to find out what they were getting into and finding out what kind of riders they would, would be very useful.

This is the start of a great force in Alegasia, both physically and metaphorically. This will be the beginning for many and an end for even more.


End file.
